Rose Colored Glasses
by thefastlane
Summary: Everything is pretend but it looks good, and that’s the way she likes it. [The Miracle of Everwood, 1/1]


**rose** colored glasses****

xo bella italiana ox

well, what do you know? I'm back! I disappeared for a little (long) while while there were no new eps playing…I lost my inspiration, lol. but now that new episodes are playing, it's back and so am i! hmm…a lot of people have been asking when I'm going to finish "open your eyes", and the answer is soon. I've been working on it. it's not my favorite, though, I don't think I involved enough conflict. oh well.

this is a little different than what I usually write, but I hope you guys like it. happy spring!

premise: "the miracle of everwood"

summary: Everything is pretend but it looks good, and that's the way she likes it.

***

Her life is perfect, an outsider muses. She's a beautiful and delicate flower, pretty to look at, but you must be careful getting close to her, because it's easy for her to come undone. At her side is the boyfriend that she saved with her love, the boyfriend that everyone adores, the one that can do no wrong. She has a mother actively involved in the community, a social butterfly that is adored by everyone. Her father, with whom she has a close relationship, is the family doctor around town, and her brother, best friends with the boyfriend, is there for her when she really needs him. Her friends are atop the social pyramid, beautiful and sleek and sophisticated as they come. She won homecoming queen and dances ballet with the grace of a swan. And all of this is in the quaint little town of Everwood, a picturesque and charming place, with appeal straight out of a fairytale. She lives a fairytale, the outsider imagines.

Or so it seems.

In truth, her father is a grumpy old man whose occupation is a doctor for the people around town. He and Amy aren't on speaking terms, because of a silly and futile misunderstanding. Her brother is the sloppy, basketball-playing, cartoon-watching stereotype we create of teenage boys. Sure, her family has their positive attributes, but they are just as imperfect, maybe even more so, as the rest of us. As for her friends, they are really just pretty, shallow, catty girls decked out in designer clothing who know just how to act when an elder is within a fifteen foot radius. While coma-boy was supposed be accepting homecoming king with her, he was off bursting into a raging fit of anger, and she was left alone in her glory, all of which included some paper tinsel falling upon her head, and cheap plastic crown, and a faux white fur robe wrapped around her shoulders. Ballet, for her, is not an art, as everyone assumes, but rather an outlet for her, a place where she can dance everything she feels. She would never admit this to anyone, maybe not even to herself, but it is there, as solid and real as rock. And Everwood, the quaint and beautiful little town with its magical charm, is nothing more than another small village, complete with town scandals, gossip, and its fair share of problems, but in the minds of its people, safe and protected in their own little walls.

And of course, there is Colin. To the people of Everwood, the story goes like a children's picture book, complete with a perfect happy ending. Colin was in a coma, Amy was persistant and never gave up, and love was strong enough to bring him back to life. And though it began as a rocky road, it quickly gave way to a smoother pathway. Colin, an outsider would suppose, was back to normal, as he had always been. And now he and Amy were in love as ever, and that was the end.

But it truth, it is quite scientific. It was Dr. Brown, famous brain-surgeon turned country doctor, whose surgery brought Colin out of his coma. It was his rehab that helped Colin to remember his life and who he was. Love did not have anything to do with it. Love would never have allowed Colin to beat up his best friend. Vandalize his gym. Physically hurt himself.

There is no happy ending. Colin doesn't really love Amy. He didn't even know who she was, or that he was supposed to love her, until she told him. But he has to say that he loves her, in order to keep her hanging around. He can't lose her, because she is the only one that lets him escape. He _can't_. He uses Amy the way alcoholics use their liquor, as a safety place, where they don't have to deal with the real problems of life. Colin, he's been through a lot, he can't deal with any more problems. Amy hates problems. And when they are together, they are problem-free.

Among this all, there is the outsider. His name is Ephram Brown. He sees the world a little differently than everyone else. He's lived in New York City, the tough city where nobody covers your eyes from anything. Ephram has seen it all. He knows that something is wrong with Colin, because he hates pretending. Ephram is real, real as the sky and the clouds and the oceans. Needless to say, Ephram doesn't fit in. He shows the truth, when nobody wants to see it. He tried to show Amy what real love was like. It scared her. Real love involves the risk of getting hurt. Amy likes her safe little cocoon of Colin's "love", and deep down she knows that the love isn't real. She likes it that way, because if it's not real, no one gets hurt.

All of Amy's life, she has been told her perfect she is. How perfect her life is. But she could never see it. She doesn't understand how perfection lies in all of her problems. But the way everyone tells the story of her life, it seems so wonderful and carefree. She wants to be the princess, the heroine that she is in all their stories.

So she puts on her rose-colored glasses, and suddenly the world looks a little brighter. The dark gray sky looks sunny. The pale, sickly boy at her side looks healthy and vibrant. She sees the fairytale coming to life, and everything is pretty and perfect and she never wants to take the glasses off. She can't go back.

She takes Colin's hand and they go off together, laughing easily. Colin is dying beside her but she can't see it because the glasses don't let her.

And all the while, a boy that doesn't fit in, remins unnoticed standing off to the side, shaking his head and wondering if those glasses were sculpted in the hands of the Devil.


End file.
